Sure enough, customer adoption was lower than hoped for, and cash was flying out the door.

FORBES: The 'Freemium' Fallacy

Asked about reports that AbdulMutallab paid for his ticket in cash and was flying only with hand luggage, Akerboom said neither would have necessarily raised any alarms.

CNN: Dutch, Nigerians to use full body scans for air travelers

Mr. ROBERT MANN (Airline Analyst): The objective is to stop instances of flying where they fly at a cash loss.

NPR: Airlines Cut Unprofitable Flights as Fuel Prices Rise

Thankfully for America, it entered restructuring with a significant cash cushion and the stigma of flying on a bankrupt airlines has evaporated over the years, so operations have continued more or less as normal.

FORBES: MF Global, American Airlines Top 2011's Biggest Bankruptcies

The airline, grounded since Oct. 1 because of a cash crunch, had also lost its flying license after it failed to produce an operational plan to the government.

WSJ: AirAsia to Start Hiring For India Venture

However, confirming what Venture Capitalists know well, Japan still is the second-largest mobile market in terms of revenues, plus the second-largest advertising market with an accelerating pick-up in e-commerce, especially among high-spending young adults (even Rakuten, a high-flying Japanese domestic e-commerce site, is flush with cash and looking to expand to foreign markets).

FORBES: The Japan Market and the Dilemma of the Global Hyper-Growth Start-Up

Over the past five years, I've reported on topics from tourism in Sierra Leone to flying boats in British Columbia to the earning power of Hip-Hop Cash Kings like Jay-Z, interviewing personalities from Dr. Ruth to 50 Cent in the process.

FORBES: Zack O'Malley Greenburg - The Beat Report - Archive

Sure, you don't need to waste fuel flying around an empty airliner, but even the company's small jet can burn through quite a bit of cash.

ENGADGET: Visualized: JetBlue and ViaSat test Fly-Fi in-flight WiFi... from the ground